After spending several years defeating the Dutch and integrating internal forces, Zheng Zhilong completely controlled the Taiwan Strait and established a colonial area belonging to the Zheng family on the island of Taiwan.

In 1644, the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, which was beaten by the wild boar skin and was about to destroy the country, canonized Zheng Zhilong as Nan'anbo, responsible for the anti-Qing affairs of Fujian Province, and the next year he was crowned Nan'anhou and mastered all the military power of the Nanming. However, these rewards did not save Zheng Zhilong's already arrears, and in 1646 he began to negotiate surrender with the victorious Qing Dynasty. And it was at this time that his son Zheng Chenggong, who later became a national hero, finally turned his face with him and led his troops to the sea to oppose the Qing Dynasty, which can be regarded as saving the reputation of the Zheng family.

Zheng Zhilong, who surrendered to the Qing army, eventually suffered his own unjust revenge, and in 1655 he was impeached for treason and sentenced to imprisonment, and a few years later he was sentenced to exile in Ningguta. As soon as Shunzhi died in 1661, Zheng Zhilong and his relatives were beheaded by the auxiliary minister Suke Saha, which ended his rich life.

From beginning to end, Zheng Zhilong has never been loyal to any boss or any force, everything he has done is for his own interests, and he has been repeating in constant surrender and betrayal almost all his life. For such a character, the executive committee absolutely does not dare to cooperate with him with confidence, and no one can guarantee that this guy who turns his face faster than turning a book will suddenly cause an accident if something is wrong.

However, due to the relatively large gap in the strength of the two sides, Haihan's side has always avoided a head-on conflict with the "Eighteen Zhi". The main energy of the "Eighteen Zhi" was focused on dealing with Xu Xinsu, and there was no action against Haihan before, and this time the "Eighteen Zhi" sent an envoy to the Guangzhou Office to express their attitude, which can be said to indicate that the relationship between the two sides has entered a new stage, and the confrontation has finally moved from the underground to the surface.

It has long been agreed in the Executive Committee that the 18 Zhi are adversaries rather than potential partners, so no one will think about changing their attitude towards the 18 Zhi, and what needs to be decided now is how to deal with possible conflicts.

"The Military Commission has already made a response plan half a year ago, and it is being revised every quarter according to our actual situation, Lao Yan, you can tell everyone. After Tao Donglai clarified the direction of the discussion, he handed over the leading power to Yan Chujie.

"First of all, I would like to state that the cost of our action plan for various contingencies that may arise in the 'Eighteen Chi' is beyond the military budget, and the military confrontation with the 'Eighteen Chi' will probably not have as much gain as the fight against South Vietnam, I hope you can understand this. Yan Chujie looked around at everyone: "If there is a jam in military spending, it may affect the actual effect of the operation." ”

According to the current budget rules, the implementation costs of the various emergency plans formulated by the military are not included in the budget, so Yan Chujie must say the ugly things in front of him, so as not to start arguing with the relevant departments because of the military spending issue.

"That's not a problem, we can follow the current rules and use an emergency budget for security projects, and no one here should object to it. Finance Minister Schneider immediately responded to the question. Of course, in fact, Schneider met with Tao Donglai and Yan Chujie before the meeting, and reached a tacit understanding on some key issues, so as to avoid further differences of opinion and delay in such a meeting where it is necessary to make a resolution as much as possible.

"So I'm going to talk about the response plan we have in place. Yan Chujie got up and made a gesture, and immediately a militiaman came up and hung a large map of the southeast sea area on the wall in front of the conference room.

"Guys, please look at this part of the area marked with a red pen. Yan Chujie raised his hand and pointed to the map and said. On this map, the vast area from east of the mouth of the Pearl River to Ningde at the northern tip of Fujian, including the west coast of Taiwan, is conspicuously circled by a red line.

"The area marked by the red line is the main scope of activities of the 'Eighteen Zhi' at present. But don't be too nervous, it's just the scope of their activities, not the scope of what they can actually control. Yan Chujie said as he drew a slightly smaller circle within the red circle with his hand: "We previously thought that the forces of the 'Eighteen Zhi' had already controlled Dapeng Bay east of the Pearl River Estuary, but after this period of observation, the scope of their control was constantly shrinking, and the bandit leader Liu Xiang had withdrawn a large section from Dapeng Bay to the north, and his current residence was on Nanao Island outside Chaozhou. According to the analysis of the General Staff, it is believed that the reason why the 'Eighteen Zhi' took the initiative to reduce the control zone should be related to the unfavorable war situation in Fujian, and they must concentrate their forces in the coastal waters of Fujian in order to maintain their control over the shipping lanes of the Taiwan Strait. ”

Yan Chujie continued: "Speaking of which, I must mention the current battle situation on the Fujian side. As you know, we have provided a lot of arms to the Xu Xinsu group in the past year, and these arms have indeed helped the local Ming army defeat the many attacks of the 'Eighteen Zhi'. However, Xu Xinsu's advantage can only stay on land at present, and if he wants to go to sea to fight, the entire Fujian Navy Division will be tied together, and I am afraid that he will not be able to defeat the 'Eighteen Zhi' with many boats. Therefore, on the issue of uniting Xu Xinsu to attack the 'Eighteen Zhi', he can hold back the forces of the 'Eighteen Zhi' on a certain distance, but it is unrealistic to expect them to go to sea to fight with us. ”

"As for our own naval strength, I will report it to the executive committee members here. Yan Chujie raised his hand and pointed to Tom Wang, who was observing the meeting: "Please tell Tom about it." ”

Tom Wang stood up and said: "At present, there are two 'expedition-class' warships under the establishment of the militia navy, of which the outfitting of the second ship has been completed and is in the stage of trial acceptance. Eight 'Exploration-class' warships have all been put into service. The above are the main combat vessels, and there are 12 supply ships, troop carriers, and reconnaissance ships of various types. The number of sailors is 850, but there is still a shortage of gunners. The navy's manpower is now mainly stationed in the two strongholds of Shengli Port and Wanshan Port, and there is no problem in the supply of ammunition and supplies. ”

"Has the manpower of the Black Earth Harbor been counted?" asked Ning Qi with a distraction.

"The combat units of the Heitugang Military Region are all listed separately, and the current water units over there are under the name of the Heitugang Special Operations Battalion, and they are not included in the establishment of the militia navy for the time being. Wang Tom explained to him: "And the shipbuilding level of Heitu Port is still relatively limited, such as the 'exploration class' warships, there are no conditions for construction at present, can only be based on some small offshore ships, to undertake daily patrols, troop transport and other combat tasks can be, but if it is a sea battle, the effect is very worrying." Of course, if it's really necessary, we can also mobilize people from there to participate in the operation. ”

After Tom Wang's introduction, Yan Chujie took over the conversation: "Our navy is enough to deal with South Vietnam, but compared with the 'Eighteen Zhi', the sea giant, the strength is still too thin. Compared to pirates, our ships and guns have a certain advantage in firepower, but we cannot afford to lose ships or men, and it is too risky for us to face the enemy head-on at sea. Therefore, the plan we have prepared is to build a defense network centered on the port base. ”

Yan Chujie pointed to the map and said: "From the map, we can intuitively see that at present, the direct line between the actual control range of the 'Eighteen Zhi' and Sanya is more than 500 nautical miles, and if you want to carry out military operations in the waters around Shengli Port, it will take at least seven or eight days each way, and the supplies required on the way alone are quite troublesome, and this side is completely unfamiliar to them, and it is almost impossible to make a battle plan in advance." Judging from the stalemate in Fujian, it is unlikely that Zheng Zhilong will send a large fleet to attack our base camp at this juncture, but Wanshan Port at the mouth of the Pearl River may become their first target, after all, it is much closer to their control area. ”

"Do you mean that if the 'Eighteen Zhi' wants to turn against us, then the most likely target to be attacked is Wanshan Port at the mouth of the Pearl River?" Ren Liang asked.

Yan Chujie nodded and replied: "That's right, if the 'Eighteen Zhi' wants to deal with us, the most likely attack is Wanshan Port, which seems to be relatively easy to attack, and there are merchant ships coming in and out of the local area every day, and it is difficult to have any secrets to the outside world." As long as the people of the 'Eighteen Zhi' are not deaf or blind, it should be easy to know that it is an important transshipment port for our trade with the mainland, and the geographical location is excellent, which can monitor the shipping routes in and out of Guangzhou, and the old pirates will not fail to understand the meaning. ”

"So what is the CMC's course of action?" Ren Liang then asked.

"The Military Commission believes that it is necessary to transfer as many combat vessels as possible to the mouth of the Pearl River, and the size of the militia stationed on the island needs to be further increased. In addition, the relevant intelligence departments also need to mobilize and collect as much information as possible about the recent movements of the 'Eighteen Zhi', so that the military can make a correct judgment. Yan Chujie looked at the executive committee members present and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the opponent of this battle is not South Vietnam, which has almost no power to fight back before, but an armed force that can confront the Ming Dynasty head-on, I hope everyone can pay enough attention to this and give the military cooperation and support." ”

At the end of the meeting, in fact, Yan Chujie did not give the executive committee members a detailed introduction to the troop deployment and battle plan arrangement, because these things are too professional, and if you want to explain them clearly to the executive committee members one by one, I am afraid that this meeting will have to be held for two or three days. The purpose of convening the emergency meeting was to unify everyone's ideological understanding, not a tactical discussion meeting, so after the emergency budget was passed, Tao Donglai announced the end of the meeting, and various units began to prepare for war.

On November 1, 1628, the sixth day of October in the first year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, Guangzhou City.

Liu Xin paced restlessly back and forth in his room, occasionally looking up at the sky outside the window—it was pouring rain outside, like a heavenly river hanging upside down, washing the entire city of Guangzhou clean.

This sudden rainstorm has been raining for two days in a row, and the drought situation near Guangzhou has been resolved, but this rain is too late, and the season of grain fields need irrigation has already passed, and the farmers who went bankrupt because of the poor summer grain harvest, now this rain will not make their lives any better, but the strong wind and rain have destroyed the thatched huts of many poor families, so that more people have fallen into the situation of fleeing from home.

But Liu Xin didn't care about the consequences of the rain on the people, he only knew that the heavy responsibility on his shoulders had been delayed for two whole days. Because of the heavy rain, all the vehicles in Guangzhou were temporarily closed, so that Liu Xin could not go out of the city to visit the Haihan office in Guangzhou—unless he was willing to roll up his trousers and wade through a puddle of water outside the inn that was almost a foot deep, and then walk on the muddy road to visit the door.

Of course this is not good, even if Liu Xin doesn't care much about his image, he has to take into account the reputation of his boss - he is on behalf of Liu Xiang, one of the big leaders of the "Eighteen Zhi", to negotiate with the Haihan people, although the men who eat at sea are very rough, but after going ashore, the place where the image should be paid attention to should not be too sloppy, so as not to be treated as a mud leg who can't get on the table.

Liu Xin had studied in a private school for a few days before joining the gang, could read and write, and was also a well-known person in the pirate gang, so he had always acted as a staff member by Liu Xiang's side, giving advice to Liu Xiang. A year ago, when Haihan goods first appeared on the market in Guangdong, he had already noticed them, and built an underground channel to buy such goods and sell them to Fujian. However, due to the very small shipment of Haihan goods at that time, and the exclusive agent, the market was very tight, Liu Xiang did not get too much benefit from this smuggling business. As for the fact that some channels of Haihan arms were trafficked to Fujian, Liu Xiang did not fail to find out, but out of his own considerations, he was unwilling to put these things on the table.

"Eighteen Zhi" is the largest pirate gang on the southeast coast, but this pirate gang is not Zheng Zhilong alone, but has more than a dozen leaders such as Yang Tiansheng, Shi Daxuan, Zhong Bin, Li Guozhu, Liu Xiang, Li Kuiqi, etc., each of whom has his own subordinates and territory. Attacking the Ming army in Fujian, this matter is not unanimous within the "Eighteen Zhi", for example, Liu Xiang, whose main territory is on the coast of Guangdong, is a little unfamiliar with Zheng Zhilong's obsession with wanting to defeat the Fujian sailors.

If Zheng Zhilong defeated the Zhongzuo Institute and broke through Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, it would also be the bulk of his benefits, and he would not have much actual benefit to Liu Xiang. And the weapons produced by the Haihan people flowed to Xu Xinsu's side, but they could wear down Zheng Zhilong's strength on a certain distance, and Liu Xiang, who was already a little unaccustomed to Zheng Zhilong, had always turned a blind eye to this. Of course, he also had the idea of buying Haihan weapons, but they didn't sell the second one at all, and it was useless to pay a high price. It was not until the establishment of "Qiong Lianfa" in the first half of this year that the Haihan people began to relax the restrictions on arms exports, and the company's shareholders also had the right to purchase weapons and equipment for their own militias, and Liu Xiang managed to buy a batch of Haihan arquebuses at a high price.

Zheng Zhilong can become the leader of the "Eighteen Zhi", naturally he is not a stupid person, and what Liu Xiang can discover, he will also discover. Ever since he learned that the weapons of Xu Xinsu's troops were from the Haihan people, he had already given an order to Liu Xiang to intercept merchant ships trafficking in weapons as much as possible in the waters of Guangdong. However, this kind of order had no effect, because "Fu Ruifeng" had long been prepared for this day, and changed the mode of arms transportation from sea to land.

At this time, because of the battle of Lijiazhuang, the reputation of the Haihan militia for its strong combat effectiveness had spread. In addition, the militia quietly eliminated the pirates who supplied Liu Xiang on Dangan Island, fully demonstrating their muscles, and Liu Xiang was unwilling to take the risk of provoking these guys armed to the teeth, so the armed conflict that worried the Executive Committee at the time did not break out.

Due to the unfavorable fighting of the "Eighteen Zhi" along the coast of Fujian, with many casualties, Zheng Zhilong had to order that the leaders of all families must contribute to participate, so Liu Xiang, who had been drained of some of his men and ships, had to give up part of his original sphere of influence and narrow the control area to the coastal area of northern Guangdong. And at this time, his mentality began to change - in the past, he fought and died on the battlefield in Fujian, and they were all Zheng Zhilong's people, but now that his brother has also stepped into that battlefield, he can no longer let the Haihan arms flow into Fujian.

After discussing with the think tank around him, Liu Xiang thought that it was better not to tear his face rashly, after all, the Haihan people were not soft persimmons, and it was easy to fight, but it would be difficult to end. So Liu Xiang entrusted Liu Xin as an envoy to Guangzhou to make direct contact with the Haihan people. Liu Xiang's demand is also very simple, that is, to ask the Haihan side to immediately stop selling arms to Fujian. Although Liu Xin has collected a lot of information about Haihan before this, and he is almost half of Haihan, there are some things that cannot be experienced without experiencing it once, such as the kung fu of Haihan people playing Tai Chi in circles, which makes it difficult for Liu Xin to adapt. Liu Xin talked several times at the Guangzhou Office, and both sides spoke dryly, but in the end, they did not come to any substantive conclusions. In particular, the Haihan leader surnamed Ma was full of words and words that Liu Xin did not understand at all during every negotiation, which often made him unable to argue and had no idea where to start. Of course, Liu Xin did not have the idea of "giving the Haihan people a little color", but when he first came to the door and saw a lot of militiamen stationed in the Guangzhou Office, he gave up this unrealistic idea. Although his master also had a musketeer in his hand, it was hidden like a treasure, and he would not pull it out to display it outside, let alone face it with the very famous Haihan militia.